AN Australian man who has been donating his extremely rare kind of blood for 56 years has saved the lives of more than two million babies. James Harrison, 74, has an antibody in his plasma that stops babies dying from Rhesus disease – a form of severe anemia. He has enabled countless mothers to give birth to healthy babies, including that his own daughter, Tracey, who had a healthy son thanks to her father’s blood. James has now been giving blood since he was just 18 – and he has now given a donation every few weeks, totaling 984 times. When he started donating, his blood was deemed so special his life was insured for one million Australian dollars. He was also nicknamed the “man with the golden arm” or the “man in two million”. His blood has since lead to the development of a vaccine called Anti D.
Pictured: James Harrison. Ref: SPL161641 210310
Picture by: Splash
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